Electronic semiconductor instrument technology continues to rapidly advance, producing instruments that achieve heretofore unattainable operating speeds, component packing density, and high-temperature operation. In high power instrument, many issues must be addressed to ensure proper instrument operation. These issues include lack of real estate for the electronics, high temperatures generated by power components, and a high inductance output path due to the orientation of the components.
In an effort to conserve circuit board space, many power instruments include a number of daughter boards mounted on a mother board. The daughter boards are different from each other and are configured to provide the power instrument with different capabilities. For example, a first daughter board may be configured to provide a large output current, while a second daughter board may be configured to include a controller for controlling current generation of the first daughter board. Since the daughter boards are different from each other, the implementation of design modifications becomes problematic because each daughter board may be differently affected by a single design modification.
The description below provides solutions to the various issues related to a mother and daughter board configuration in power instrument.